Samsung unveils first phone ‘as Gaeilge’

Mobile manufacturer Samsung has introduced the first phone in the world that will include an Irish language option.

The ‘Tocco’ device, which will debut on these shores on 1 July next, will retail from €129 and will be available in O2, Vodafone, Meteor and Carphone Warehouse stores nationwide.

Samsung country manager, Gary Twohig, said the new phone with Irish language features is a strong statement of intent for the Irish market.

“We are now living in a modern, confident Ireland. To reflect this we decided to launch the Irish language on our leading-edge touchscreen device, Tocco.

The decision to offer an Irish-language option handset is something Samsung have been looking at for some time and Twohig said it definitely won’t be a one off.

“While we won’t necessarily be launching this feature with every new phone, we will be adding it as a premium feature for key launches,” he said.

The Tocco features T9/Predictive text in Irish and includes a full touchscreen display.

Specific software was created for the phone to incorporate the Irish language, with 44,000-plus words on the device translated into Irish.

Samsung worked with an Irish translation company with three translators working on the project. All of them have degrees in the Irish language and over 20 years of experience in Irish translation.

Samsung is spending €500,000 in Ireland to support the launch of Samsung Tocco.

The handset houses a five-megapixel camera, 240×320 2.8-inch 262,000 display and a full internet browser. Users can also enjoy an enhanced music experience with easy access to music sources and a full music recognition function, as well as 240MB of internal music memory, a memory card with up to 8GB storage and an integrated FM radio.